Lawmakers begin efforts to revive bills in boycott's wake

INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican lawmakers found some bipartisan support Thursday as they began reviving bills blocked in the first half of the legislative session, including tax incentives supporters say will help invigorate Indiana's economy.\nRepublicans also debated a voter identification bill and restored a contentious proposal that would give Gov. Mitch Daniels' newly created post of inspector general the power to prosecute government crimes.\nDemocrats boycotted the House last week partly because of those two measures, which they consider partisan power grabs.\nBut Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee voted Thursday to revive tax incentives by amending the derailed bills into other legislation.\nHouse Speaker Brian Bosma said the tax incentives are crucial to improving the economy and creating jobs.\n"They are critical measures to address our number one issue," said Bosma, R-Indianapolis.\nOne incentive would exempt companies from paying sales tax on research and development equipment.\nBrad Bishop, with orthopedics maker Zimmer Holdings Inc., based in the northern Indiana city of Warsaw, said that could help companies keep research projects in Indiana.\n"We think it will have a positive, stimulating affect on other life science companies looking at Indiana," Bishop said.\nAnother proposal would expand economic development tax credits to smaller businesses.\nJason Shelley, director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said his group's 16,000 Indiana members sometimes feel left out of economic development proposals. But he said the tax-incentive package could give small businesses more options.\n"This is a good, positive step for small business," Shelley said.\nAnother incentive would give businesses that relocate corporate headquarters to Indiana a tax credit to offset half the company's relocation costs. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said the measure is worth considering if it could lure a large company to the state.\n"We have to try," Espich said.\nAlso Thursday, Republicans revived a proposal to give the state's new inspector general power to prosecute suspected government crimes if local prosecutors do not file charges within six months. Daniels said the measure is important for rooting out corruption, but Democrats say it mixes the judicial and executive branches of government and could be used for political witch hunts.\nHowever, signs of a potential compromise emerged as Rep. Trent Van Haaften, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, suggested that a judge could decide who would prosecute such government crimes -- either the inspector general or another prosecutor.\nVan Haaften said it would be most appropriate for prosecutors, not the inspector general, to handle such cases, but that he was looking forward to working with legislative leaders on the bill.\nRepublicans said they could be willing to go along with that change if the inspector general would retain prosecutorial powers in some cases.\n"I think we saw them (House Democrats) take a major step in supporting the bill today," Bosma said.\nDaniels said the Democrat's suggestion was encouraging.\n"There's a good chance of a compromise agreement on this bill," he said.\nBut partisan tensions remained high as a House committee debated a Senate bill that would require voters to show driver's licenses or other government-issued IDs before casting ballots. The Democrat boycott last week derailed a similar bill in the House.\nThe House panel did amend the Senate bill with a provision that would exempt people in nursing homes and state institutions from the identification requirement. But Democrats still maintain the legislation would discourage some people from voting, and the committee adjourned without acting on the bill.